25 years ago today, a 19 year old German boy bypassed all Soviet defenses to land a Cessna in Red Square, making it the most successful invasion of Russia in German history since the Mongols in the 13th century

I never felt THAT invincible. Then again, he stabbed a coworker, so maybe it was Der Krazy more than anything....

I'm going with crazy. Take a look at his route:

He flew long over water legs alone in a single engine plane with only 50 hours of flying experience. Keflavik to Bergen in over 800 nautical miles, and other than the Faroes, there ain't much in between.

I never felt THAT invincible. Then again, he stabbed a coworker, so maybe it was Der Krazy more than anything....

I'm going with crazy. Take a look at his route:

[upload.wikimedia.org image 640x464]

He flew long over water legs alone in a single engine plane with only 50 hours of flying experience. Keflavik to Bergen in over 800 nautical miles, and other than the Faroes, there ain't much in between.

Jesus Christ, was that his actual route?! That's pretty damn incredible flying right there for a novice, particularly in a little punk-ass Cessna. Crazy, yes, perhaps even psychotic- but I now have even more respect for him pulling this off.

He was just gonna hide out until the first strike blew over...then the little bugger would carry a 25-megaton bomb right down the middle of Main Street, Moscow. Like the mailman bringing bad news. We called it "Operation Got-You-Last".

kryhmeYou've just been released from Russian prison after a stunt that almost cost you your life. How are you going to celebrate?

I'm going to stab a guy in a hospital.

That actually was: "I'm going to ram a knife two times into a nursing student's stomach because she refuses to kiss me and calls me an attention whore."

/the girl might only have survived because she managed to drag herself from the staff changing room where the attack happened to a unit where a team had just gotten ready and was standing buy for a surgery.

skinink:Why did these assholes like Napoleon and Hitler insist on fighting in Russia during the winter in the first place?

I think what happened is that both thought to themselves, "Oh, Russia will be a pushover!" and waited until June to start operations. Napoleon got underway on June 24, 1812, and Hitler waited until June 22, 1941. Time has a habit of slipping away, though.

dittybopper:He flew long over water legs alone in a single engine plane with only 50 hours of flying experience. Keflavik to Bergen in over 800 nautical miles, and other than the Faroes, there ain't much in between.

Fubegra:skinink: Why did these assholes like Napoleon and Hitler insist on fighting in Russia during the winter in the first place?

I think what happened is that both thought to themselves, "Oh, Russia will be a pushover!" and waited until June to start operations. Napoleon got underway on June 24, 1812, and Hitler waited until June 22, 1941. Time has a habit of slipping away, though.

Its hard to grasp just how BIG Russia is. As this post states, they started their invasion in June. Winter "Officially" starts in November (First snow in '41 was early October though). That gives you 3 months of good campaign season against an enemy that is numerically, tactically, and strategically inferior (and in most cases inferior in equipment as well).

No one intends to fight in winter. People just underestimate the difficulty in reaching that constant objective (Moscow) before the snows set in.

Its that same old "The war will be over in a month after this cataclysmic battle" syndrome that has plagued so many armies, conflicts, and countries through millenia.

What a crazy (and lucky) asshole. For those who dnrtfa, it says he was spotted by a mig shortly after he crossed the border but they mistook him for a friendly because there had been a search and rescue going on as well as training. Also he wouldn't have been able to land but they had removed cables on the bridge he landed on that morning for maintenance.

The battle station Soviet Union is heavily shielded and carries a firepower greater than half the star fleet. Its defenses are designed around a direct, large-scale assault. A small one-man fighter Cessna should be able to penetrate the outer defense.

Carn:What a crazy (and lucky) asshole. For those who dnrtfa, it says he was spotted by a mig shortly after he crossed the border but they mistook him for a friendly because there had been a search and rescue going on as well as training. Also he wouldn't have been able to land but they had removed cables on the bridge he landed on that morning for maintenance.

The fact that Gorby used it as a reason to purge the upper echelon of his armed forces makes me wonder if it wasn't an inside job of some sort. BRING ON THE RED SQUARE TRUTHERS!

Twenty five years ago we learned that the USSR was a hollow shell and holes were starting to appear in its shell.

Today Russia would make damn sure it blew the kid out of the sky, then a photo op would be arranged of Putin pulling the trigger (staged after the fact of course).

I'd like to say things have gotten better in that part of the world and in some ways they have, but Russia's addiction to Czars and Czar wannabes has to end or someone some day will end them...and likely they'll be reading the Koran when they are finished.

The Voice of Doom:kryhmeYou've just been released from Russian prison after a stunt that almost cost you your life. How are you going to celebrate?

I'm going to stab a guy in a hospital.

That actually was: "I'm going to ram a knife two times into a nursing student's stomach because she refuses to kiss me and calls me an attention whore."

/the girl might only have survived because she managed to drag herself from the staff changing room where the attack happened to a unit where a team had just gotten ready and was standing buy for a surgery.

LoneDoggie:Might have been about the time we started realizing that the Soviet military infrastructure was a bit... Rusty?

It wasn't all that rusty, actually: They spotted him numerous times, but for a number of reasons didn't do anything about it. One major reason is that a small single engine plane like that wasn't perceived to be a military threat.

Another possible reason, one not talked much about, is that had they shot him down, it would have been a public relations nightmare: They had shot down two Korean Airlines passenger jets in the 10 years previous, one where they killed everyone on board and the other where they killed 2 people. It would have just made them look more like the "Evil Empire" that Ronald Reagan said they were.